Hanover Terrace House, Regent’s Park Home, London Nash Property, Residential Building

Hanover Terrace House

Contemporary Regent’s Park Residence, north London design by Belsize architects

2 Aug 2010

Hanover Terrace House, Regent’s Park

Design: Belsize architects

This Nash terraced house is a Grade I listed building in Regent’s Park with the Crown Estate as freeholder. The brief required complete refurbishment to adapt the historic building to a modern lifestyle.

photos from architects

The Client’s specific requirement was for the creation of an environment where the family could live a full, but informal life. They were interested in incorporating within the design the latest technology available as far as “intelligent home” and other services were concerned.

The main rooms, at ground and first floors, were restored and the front and rear rooms connected together with large openings. A large two-storey glass extension was added to the rear of the building between the existing three-storey rear wing of the house and the next door house. The kitchen was formed on the ground floor within the rear wing and a large opening connected it to the new glass extension. The glass extension was designed so that the only visible material was glass, except for exposed steel beams between the two floors.

The double glazed door from the extension to the rear garden was designed without any steel structure. The floor within the glass extension was also of structural glass in order to allow for light transfer to the lower ground floor room of the main house.

As no original features remained the mews house was remodelled entirely. The first floor was designed as a large studio, an open plan kitchen and a bathroom clad in black slate. The ground floor of the mews consists of a large gym overlooking the garden, with two large glazed arched windows. The jacuzzi, with its shower and steam room to the rear, is separated from the gym by a glass panel. The roof above the gym is partially glazed, with a structural glass floor that becomes the terrace for the first floor.

photos from architects

This refurbishment demonstrated that it is possible successfully to use contemporary language within an historic structure. The usage of glass allows the original fabric to be read through it; in this way it is possible to appreciate both the old and the new alongside each other.